GDP (Gross Domestic Product) - Lesson Plan and Activities

This is a complete lesson plan that explores the many facets of Gross Domestic Product. It examines the three different ways to calculate GDP, the difference between nominal GDP and real GDP, and GDP per capita. (This lesson is part of a larger unit on Economic Indicators.)

THIS DOWNLOAD INCLUDES:
1) Warm Up Activity -- students determine which items are included/excluded in GDP.
2) PowerPoint Presentation –contains the lecture and is a guide for all activities.
3) Note Sheet -- students fill out this note sheet during the lecture.
4) Class Activity -- calculate GDP in all 3 ways at different stations (materials included).
5) Homework -- additional practice calculating GDP using the three approaches.
6) Teacher Materials -- includes a detailed lesson plan, answer keys, and a “Read Me” document explaining how to use the materials included.

TOPICS FOR THE LECTURE:
1) What gets included in GDP
2) What gets excluded from GDP
3) Calculating GDP using the three approaches: production, expenditure, and income
4) Difference between nominal GDP and real GDP
5) How GDP per capita compares economic data across time and between countries

(If you would like to download one of my PowerPoint slideshows to get a feel for my style, check out my free download here.)

This lesson is the second day of a five-day unit on Economic Indicators that was designed using national standards from the Council for Economic Education. It should take 80 - 90 minutes, which is perfect for the block schedule, but it can also be easily split in half for classes that run closer to 50 minutes.

Enjoy!


GDP (Gross Domestic Product) - Lesson Plan and Activities by Nick Samsal is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.